The Fugitive
by Ms.K216
Summary: **Inactive** This is set when Zuko is asking to join Team Avatar. Aang, Toph, and Sokka won't allow him in the group so Katara runs off to join Zuko. That being said, Zuko is considered a fugitive, wanted by the Fire Lord for committing an act of treason.
1. Picking Sides

**A/N: This is ZUTARA… if you don't like it consider yourself warned, please don't leave rants about how it's not canon or how Katara ends up with Aang. I mean that in the nicest way possible, thank you!**

**This takes place in Book 3 when Zuko is asking to join Team Avatar. **

**Katara's POV: **

"I really do apologize for trying to capture you all those times. I realize now that my destiny is not to hurt you, but to help you. I would like to teach you firebending." Zuko stood before us, asking for Aang's forgiveness.

"Aang don't fall for it! It's probably a trick!" Sokka yelled, I watched as Zuko's face fell, something seemed different about him today. I realized that I believed what he was saying, he was changed.

"I think Zuko's telling the truth guys. Besides Aang does need a firebending master."

"Katara's obviously gone crazy!" Toph laughed. "Do you not remember the time Zuko captured you and stole your mother's necklace?"

I did remember that. I remembered as if it were yesterday. Zuko didn't try to hurt me at all, in fact he seemed to regret what he was doing. He was more misunderstood than anything else and all he was trying to do was make it so his father would love him again. Of course I was angry that he'd lied to me and used me as bait to catch Aang, but when I was with him he told me a lot about himself. Ever since that day I'd had a soft spot for him and now here he was proclaiming that he was done being bad. He deserved a chance.

"I'm not crazy! Zuko isn't all bad. I think we should let him join our group." My brother and Aang looked at me like I was out of my mind, Toph shook her head.

"No. I'm sorry Zuko. After everything you've done to me and my friends I can't just forgive you and let you join us. Go back to the Fire Nation. You don't belong here." Aang turned away from Zuko, so he didn't get to see the pain behind his eyes, but I did.

"Come on Katara, it's getting late." Sokka picked Toph up, carrying her inside with Aang following close behind, I looked back at Zuko for a second before moving.

"Katara please… You know me..." Zuko whispered.

"I'm so sorry." I whispered back before following my friends inside. By the time I made it to the kitchen they were already commenting on what had just happened, Aang frowned when I walked in.

"I can't believe you really bought that. You out of anyone here should know how dangerous Zuko is. He kidnapped you before, what makes you think he's changed?"

"Yeah, I agree with Aang, you should know better Katara." Sokka reprimanded. I shook my head.

"I don't know guys, Zuko isn't..." I didn't get to finish before Aang cut me off.

"Katara, Zuko is bad news. I'm sorry, I can't trust him. You shouldn't either."

"Okay. I think I'm going to bed. It's late." I sighed and turned to go down the hall to my room. Once I left the room Toph laughed.

"I can't believe her! If Zuko's good, then I'm not blind!" The three of them started laughing uncontrollably and I made up my mind, I had to go find Zuko. He didn't deserve to be treated like this. Once I got to my room I scribbled down a note for Sokka, Aang, and Toph, letting them know I was fine and that they shouldn't try to find me. I placed the note in the middle of my bed before slipping out the window and running to the woods.

...

It didn't take me too long to find Zuko's camp after I left. He had a fire going and the woods was dark other than the orange light it was throwing off.

"Zuko?" I asked, pushing past a few wild bushes. He didn't answer, so I walked a little closer, it looked like he was sleeping. "Zuko?" I asked again. Slowly he woke up, realizing someone was in his camp.

"Who's there!?" Zuko yelled, blasting fire in my direction, not realizing who I was. Reflexively I pulled up a shield of water from my pouch.

"It's only me! It's Katara!" I held my shield up, bracing for another attack. It never came.

"Katara?" The firebender sat up and looked at me. "What are you doing here?"

"I don't agree with what Aang and the others were saying. I know you're good. You always have been, you just didn't know it." I smiled when I saw the confused look on his face, he was cute even with half of his face being scarred up. "Zuko, I want to give you a chance. Nobody should have to be alone all the time."

"But… why?" He asked, not understanding.

"Because…" I hesitated, I didn't know how to say what I wanted to say. "That day you captured me and we were talking I knew there had to be more to you than just someone who was angry at the world. I think you need a friend. I thought maybe you get a little lonely always being by yourself."

"Katara are you sure this is what you want? What about your friends? What about Aang?"

"What about them? You should've seen the way they treated me for taking your side." I sat down beside him. "Will you let me join you?" I held my breath waiting for his answer. Zuko smiled softly.

"Of course. We have to leave here though. If anyone from the Fire Nation finds me they'll bring me to my father and…" He stopped.

"And what?" I pressed, wondering what was upsetting my friend.

"Let's just say it won't be good."

**A/N: Okay, so this chapter was a little rough, I didn't want to rush into the Zutara right away. There should be more in the next chapter. I hope you liked this one though. I'd love it if you left a review on what you would like to see me do differently or if you see something I could improve on. Thanks guys! **


	2. The Note

**A/N: Okay, so I'm sorry for not updating this in a while but I got a lot of reviews from people who were… unhappy… with chapter one. Let me just state for the record that this is infact an AU and some things are different than the show. I've spent a lot of time thinking of a way to rectify the questions people have. Please bare with me here while I try to satisfy everyone… **

**Aang's POV: **

"Katara?" I knocked on my friend's bedroom door the next morning, Toph and Sokka stood beside me. We all felt guilty for teasing her so much last night, she'd been quiet all morning.

"Katara we're coming in!" Sokka kicked the door in, revealing that there was nobody inside. He looked sick. "Ahh!" He screamed.

"What is it?" Toph asked, walking into the room. "I don't sense her."

"That's the problem!" Sokka was yelling again. I shook my head.

"Everybody just calm down okay? I'm sure she's around here somewhere." I looked around her room for any clues to where she could be. "Look! A note." I picked it up, but Sokka ripped it out of my hands. I sighed, letting it go, he was her brother after all.

"What's it say?" Toph asked for both of us, Sokka shoved it into her hands.

"Read it!"

"Sokka, Toph's blind remember? What did the note say?"

"She left our group! She said she would be fine and that we shouldn't try to find her!" Sokka's face was turning red with anger. "Why would she do this?!"

"It was probably because we were teasing her so much." I frowned, worried about my best friend. "Where would she go?" I wondered.

"She probably went to go find Zuko…" Toph started. Me and Sokka exchanged a weary look.

"Zuko was just playing us! Why won't she just let it go?" Sokka fumed.

"Because yesterday when Zuko was telling us he'd changed he wasn't lying. He was telling the truth."

"Toph! Why didn't you say anything?! You know I need to learn firebending before I face Fire Lord Ozai! And then you let us laugh at Katara all night long! No wonder she left!" I threw my hands up in frustration. How could I have let this happen?

"I'm sorry Aang. I thought he'd learned to deceive me with lies the same way Azula had and I didn't want to risk you getting hurt. Then I saw something in Katara and I thought it'd be funny to mess with her…" When Toph stopped talking I had so many questions that I didn't even know where to begin. Sokka spoke up.

"What did you see in Katara?" He pressed. Toph sat down on Katara's bed, staring blankly past us.

"I think Katara likes Zuko. I mean… _really_ likes Zuko."

"WHAT!" I screamed, sending a blast of wind through the room, when Sokka looked at me I quickly regained my composure. "I mean… why would she have feelings for Zuko? He's always trying to capture us and he's hurt us a million times!"

"Actually Aang… if you think about it Zuko's never actually hurt Katara." Sokka rationalized.

"You weren't there in the Crystal Caves. He turned his back on her." I looked away from my friends. They wouldn't understand if I told them how I truly felt about Katara. I frowned.

"Aang, I can't change what I saw. Maybe Katara forgives Zuko for what happened in the caves, I don't know. One thing I do know is that we pushed her away by telling Zuko he couldn't join our group."

"I… We need to get her back." I frowned, thinking of how upset we'd made Katara last night. I didn't want to think about Zuko comforting her while she told him about it either.

"She said she doesn't want to be part of Team Avatar anymore Twinkle Toes, was her leaving not enough evidence for you?"

"Maybe if we let Zuko join us Katara will stay."

"Aang have you even met Katara? She's going to see right through that and know we only accepted Zuko so that she would come back. Not to mention the fact that Zuko's probably angry with us again." Sokka sighed and sat beside Toph, my temper flared again.

"Well I can tell you one thing! We aren't just going to sit here and do nothing while Zuko and Katara are off doing God know's what! When you two come up with a better plan then you can talk to me, but until then we're doing this my way! I'm the Avatar and what I say goes! Now pack what you need and get on Appa!"

With that I stormed out of the room. I didn't mean to get so upset, it was so unlike me, but everything was different when Katara was involved. She made me feel something inside. Her leaving was bad for the group, but it was even worse for me because it made me feel so… abandoned. I couldn't help but feel jealous of Zuko. Why did she want him when I wanted her so badly. I couldn't hate Zuko and I knew that if he was who Katara chose I loved her enough to let her go with him. I shook my head, I had to stop thinking about it before Toph picked up on my more than friendly feelings towards Katara. I went to my room and got my staff before running outside to Appa, I airbended myself up onto his back and saw that both my friends were in the saddle already.

"Are you ready to go?" I asked.

"As ready as we're going to be your Avatar-ness." Toph shot back, she was mad. I frowned and looked at Sokka.

"Let's just go Aang." He crossed his arms and looked away from me. Maybe I'd been wrong to pull rank on my friends. I just couldn't help it, I needed to find Katara.

"Appa, yip yip."

**A/N: Hope this chapter clears up a few questions you guys have had. There will be more answers the next time Zuko and Katara are together.**


	3. More Than Friends

**A/N: New chapter, sorry for the slow update! We're back with the Zutara this chapter, picking up where chapter one ended.**

**Katara's POV:**

I woke up slowly the next morning, feeling comfortable and warm against the early morning air. I welcomed the feeling, snuggling into the source of the heat beside me. It wasn't for another couple of minutes that I realized what I was doing and my eyes flew open as I scrambled away from Zuko.

"Good morning Katara." He smiled. My face turned bright pink, I hoped that the dim light from the rising sun wasn't bright enough for him to notice.

"Zuko! I… umm… good morning." I bit my lip, embarrassed for trying to snuggle with him.

"I didn't know you liked to cuddle." He laughed, causing my blush to deepen.

"I… I'm sorry."

"No. I wasn't trying to embarrass you. I think it's cute. You slept there all night, you looked peaceful."

"All night?" I sounded deflated. Of course I liked cuddling with Zuko, but I couldn't let him know that. I'd just joined his group last night, I couldn't risk our friendship by telling him I liked him until I was sure I knew how he felt about me.

"Seriously Katara, don't feel weird about it. I liked sleeping with you by my side." He paused, waiting for me to say something, when I didn't he continued. "Actually, I really liked it." He got up, going over to the fire to put it out. I thought about his comment. Was it possible he liked me too? I decided it was best to leave it alone for now.

"So what will happen?" I asked him, folding up his blanket from last night as we talked.

"What do you mean?" He looked over at me.

"If the Fire Nation finds you."

"They'll bring me to my father." The ashes from the fire perked up again as he said it. "You have to understand Katara, by coming here to offer the Avatar my help I turned myself into an enemy of the Fire Nation. Before I left I argued with my father." He shook his head. "If I ever had any chance of getting my honor back it's gone now. Aang and your friends turned their backs on me. Now I have nobody!" The embers danced back to life as Zuko fell to his knees by the fire, he ran his hands through his hair, frustrated and upset.

"Zuko, you don't have nobody." I knelt in front of him, wrapping the boy up in my arms. "You have me now." I held him tight, rocking him gently in my arms. He looked up at me, tears staining his cheeks. I was surprised, I'd never seen him so vulnerable.

"How can you say that after all I've done to you? What about the Crystal Catacombs? I betrayed your trust."

"Zuko, you have to try and understand… I still trust you." He opened his mouth to interrupt but stopped himself, letting me finish. "Everything you did, you did because you thought it was the right thing to do. You wanted your dad to love you again, you wanted your honor back and trying to capture Aang was the only way that would happen." I sighed. "You were young and you were very angry... but most importantly you're sorry. I know you are. You never forget what you did, you live with it everyday and I know it's difficult for you, but you try so hard."

"You really mean that?" He sniffled, looking down at me as another tear streamed down his burnt cheek. I noticed that the wild flames from the fire had begun to die down again. I smiled up at him.

"Every word." I brought my hand up to hold his face, gently wiping the tears off his cheek with my thumb, he reached up, holding my hand against his scar.

"Katara…" His eyes flashed quickly to my lips before he looked down at the fire pit, flushing bright red. So he did like me, that would make things so much easier. "I'm sorry for acting like this." He sighed, frustrated with himself again.

"No." I turned his head gently so he was looking at me again. "Don't be sorry." I smiled and leaned into him, he met me halfway. Zuko's soft lips were warm against my own, I smiled as he gently held the back of my head, welcoming the kiss. A minute passed before he pulled away and looked at me wide eyed.

"That was… nice." He stammered, I laughed.

"Very nice." I agreed, kissing him quickly once more. "I want you to know that no matter what happens you have me in your corner. You will never have nobody, even if I get mad at you for something."

"Katara, you will never know how much those words mean to me." Zuko stood up, offering me his hand, I took it, not letting go even when I was on my feet. I smiled when he laced his fingers with mine.

"I didn't think you could ever feel this way about me. I didn't think anyone could."

"You think too much, Zuko."

"I'm sorry." He apologized again. "So if the firebenders my father sent find us should I tell them to leave my friend alone or my girlfriend?" His cheeks turned pink with embarrassment from the boldness of his question.

"They won't… but on the off chance that we do see a Fire Nation soldier I'm going to tell them that they won't get away with hurting my boyfriend." I smiled up at him, glad to finally be able to share with him how I've felt about him since the day he told me he'd save me from the pirates. He smiled, something I already loved seeing.

"I'm glad you came to find me last night Katara."

"I am too." I sighed. "You're right about having to leave here though. If it was that easy for me to find you who knows how long it will take for someone else to?"

"Good point." He frowned. "Let's pack up and get moving. I don't want you to get hurt because of me."

"I'm a big girl Zuko, you don't need to worry abou-" He cut me off, something he almost never did.

"I'm going to worry about you no matter what. I have since that day I tied you to that tree and I will continue to worry for as long as I know you. You said it yourself, you're my person. I don't want anything to happen to you." He put the blanket in his backpack and dismantled the tent, neatly packing it away. It was clear he wasn't going to budge on this, and in a way I thought it was sort of sweet. He slung his bag onto his back and looked over at me. "Let's go."

"Where are we going?" I asked, holding his hand while we walked.

"We could go back to the Earth Kingdom and live amongst the refugees there. My uncle and I did it for a while before Azula came along and ruined it."

"Sounds like a good plan. Sokka, Aang, Toph, and I were in Ba Sing Se for a while, we found some trouble there in the upper ring."

"Well then we'll just have to stay in the lower ring. Nobody knows about my little mishap with Azula there so it should be safe."

"Good." I smiled. "It'll be fun!"

"We'll talk about fun later. We still have a lot of ground to cover before we even make it there at all."

**A/N: So this chapter was very Zutara based… I tried to reign it in but I couldn't help myself. Hopefully you like it! Let me know what you thought! New chapter soon!**


End file.
